PROMOTION

This fall Riverview launched their fourth venue in the Greater Lansing Area. In an effort to stay connected with the Riv family, I put together a series of videos highlighting each venue and what’s been happening their over the recent months. I interviewed each Venue Director to summarize where their venue has been in the last year as well what things they’re looking forward to in the coming months.

These were the first videos shot in our new studio space. I experimented with a white background which varies from the usual “empty space” black background I employ.

Holt Venue

The first of Riv’s venues which is the most geographically diverse in it’s draw. It has much more of a regional feel rather than a specific Holt focus.

MSU Venue

This venue meets on Michigan State’s campus and is largely made up of college students and young professionals that have decided to stay in East Lansing post-graduation.

Westside Venue

This is the most recently launched venue and is unique in the fact that its location has had a church in it for over 130 years.

REO Town Venue

This venue is in a commercial district that has made drastic changes over the past five years. It was once a run-down corridor and is now filled with excitement and a strong focus on local businesses and arts.

Technicalities

Shot on Canon 5D and 60D with prime 50mm and 28mm lenses respectively.

Audio recorded via lavaliere hidden under the shirt with a stationary boom above the frame as a backup.

Lit with an Arri 650 through a soft box with a 200w light as fill. Two clamp lights acted as back lights from the lighting grid.

Challenges

Creating a series of videos that function independently and collectively presents a unique set of challenges. The hope is to convey a singular message across the pieces but not be redundant in pushing that theme. I sought to reinforce the idea that Riv is one church, but contextualized each video to really highlight each independent community.

There’s a good reason colorists have full time jobs – it’s super difficult! Setting color on a white background is even less forgiving with maintaining consistency. This is the technical downfall of this project, and something I’m continually striving to improve.

A video I created for Riverview Church to introduce a sermon series that examines their Mission Statement, Vision Statement, and Statement of Beliefs.

The concept for this video is a bridge between the Early Church and Riverview’s current place in history. In Acts 28 the church was growing and reaching new people groups and countries at a rapid pace. As such, the Gospel has spread to many nations, which I sought to represent with the multiple demographics and languages in this video.

The overall motif for this series is based on a foundational grid-work of triangles. I sought to push this theme using a “triple exposure” technique while filming the speaking portions of this video.